Come Back to Me
by bakaneko817
Summary: A year after Sasuke leaves Konoha, Naruto is asked again to find him and stop Orochimaru, but this time Sasuke takes the offensive. sasunaru
1. The Peaceful Beginning of Chaos

Disclaimer: I have never, do not, and will never own Naruto or any of its characters, which are all copyrighted to Masashi Kishimoto! Don't sue! I don't have anything!

A/N: this will be shounen ai/ yaoi. As I'm sure you've heard before- don't like then don't read. No real action in this prologue type thing but there's plenty coming in ch.2! oh and I like to use Japanese words- I have a very limited vocabulary, from only teaching myself and visiting Japan once, so the basic words I randomly stick in should be easy to figure out-if not then feel free to ask! Enough of this pointless ramble….

Prologue: The Peaceful Beginning of Chaos

Ahh…a sleepy morning in Konohagakure. The sun was shining, the clouds were drifting lazily, and the birds were chirping outside a certain shinobi's apartment. The muted "peeps" of sparrows, the louder caw of the tori, the incessant, high-pitched shrill of a…damn, that was a noisy bird.

With a groan, Uzumaki Naruto rolled over to pinpoint the exact location of the obnoxious beeping and turned off the offending alarm clock. How dare it disturb his slumber! With a contented sigh, he rolled back over and submerged himself under the soft quilts until only a head of golden, unruly hair was visible against his sky blue pillow.

Elsewhere in the village, other clear-minded genin woke to the mute sound of an internal training clock, and others still had their mothers to come in and gently shake their shoulders or brush cherry-blossom pink hair from their faces. But not Naruto-kun. Parentless but not self-pitying, he slept peacefully, oblivious to the world until…

"Crap! That obaasan is gonna kill me!"

Scrambling frantically around his room, and tripping on old ramen cups on the way to the bathroom, he tried to remember exactly why he had awoken with visions of blonde pigtails and an evil smirk implanted on his young brain. He shuddered at the mere recollection.

"Ah! The mission! I was supposed to get a new ultra-important mission today!"

Having finally remembered why he had attempted to set his alarm, and being both very proud of himself for remembering and very terrified of an angry Tsunade-baba, he somehow brushed his teeth while simultaneously washing his face. Grabbing an old orange jacket from a crumpled heap on the floor, he sprinted to the window and jumped off the small balcony onto the streets below.

_Meanwhile:_

::tap tap tap:: glare at the clock on the wall ::tap tap tap::

"Tsunade-sama! Would you please stop tapping your foot! The whole floor is shaking!"

Green eyes assessed the complaining figure coolly, then a "hmph" and small hair flick later, Tsunade spoke.

"Shizune…Naruto is late."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama, but I thought that was why you told him to be here two hours earlier than scheduled! You didn't really expect him to be here on time, did you?!"

Tsunade sweatdropped, then shook her head, "No, no, I guess you're right after all. Who would expect him to be on time with that no good sensei of his- even as a student himself, _he_ was never on time."

"Yo." A smiling, upside-down face appeared in the window of the Hokage's office.

"Ahh!" Both women jumped back a foot.

"Kakashi!" Tsunade angrily pointed at the visible half-moon eye. "How did you get by Anbu security!?"

Kakashi attempted to look innocently confused. "Do you mean those men that were chasing me across your rooftop? I thought they were just playing tag with the baby squirrel I rescued on the way here…"

A vein twitched in the Godaime's forehead. "Shizune! Go get on that now!"

"Hai, hai, Tsunade-sama!"

But before she could open the door to the Hokage's office, it flung open of its own accord to reveal a panting blonde, leaning heavily on the doorpost as if he had just run 4 miles at top speed…which, it actually _was_ 4 miles from his apartment to Hokage tower.

"Gomen ne Tsunade-baba…but I'm here!"

Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples and muttering about the obnoxious tasks appointed to poor, unfortunate Hokages. Then she straightened up, and looked at the jounin and genin in front of her.

"Ok, as you both know, I have called you here today to talk about a very important mission. Kakashi, put the book down. So as I was saying, Naruto I want you to undertake a serious, B ranked mission, and ordinarily I wouldn't do this without a sensei's approval, so…Kakashi, please put the book away!....I have Kakashi-sensei here to approve the assignment and to discuss any associated risks that are inherent in the nature of this mission. Only you can do this Naruto, or else I would have assigned this to any other person…Kakashi, give me the damn book _now_!!"

She seemed to recover herself after snatching _Icha Icha Paradise_ away from the sulking jounin and returning her attention to the hyperactive blonde. Her voice softened perceptibly as she gazed at him.

"Naruto, this isn't going to be easy, but I want you to find Uchiha Sasuke."

A deadly hush fell over the room, and Naruto's previous expression of glee turned blank and his complexion slightly pale. Even Kakashi tore his gaze away from the window and focused on his student, a somewhat detached look, which could be mistaken for worry, etched in his visible eye.

Naruto merely nodded his head, then opened his mouth in what might have been a protest, but the Godaime cut him off,

"Now, I know this is somewhat of a shock to you, especially after he has been gone for a year already, but let me explain my reasons. To put it bluntly, Orochimaru is on the move, and he plans to attack Konohagakure. That's all we know. We don't know how, when, or exactly where, but internal shinobi have told us that he is mobilizing his units and that he has spread his communications beyond the village of Sound. He may have allies in other places, quite possibly even the Sand village again. You will have to be careful and make sure not to trust anyone…even Sasuke."

Naruto nodded mutely again. Why now? Why, when he was just beginning to get his life back together, his mask back in place, why did Sasuke's memory have to haunt him forever? The nightmares weren't enough, the one-on-one training sessions with Kakashi only served to remind him of his former teammate, and Sakura's empty smile made him cringeand thinkhow that selfish bastard left his friends behind.

Before he could follow that train of thought, Tsunade broke in again, "That brings me to the only other piece of information we have….Several excellent and talented shinobi and spies died to bring us this news, so we are not taking it lightly. Orochimaru plans to use Sasuke as a central point in his attack; he wants to exploit the powers of the sharingan to decimate our forces, but even worse…he is going to let Sasuke burn down all of Konohagakure before the eyes of the villagers. He is going to force Sasuke to instill fear into the hearts of all loyal Konoha citizens, who will then lose all will to fight when they see the village's number one genin betray them."

She broke off her impassioned speech and saw the flicker of emotions in Naruto's eyes, "Naruto, the truth is that we don't know the real tactics behind Orochimaru's attack, but one thing is certain…his victory depends upon Uchiha Sasuke, and you are the only who can counter that."

Naruto's mask slid back into place, and his blue eyes hardened, "Why me? There are many more advanced shinobi who could penetrate Orochimaru's lines, and the shinobi working under cover could quite easily assassinate him."

Tsunade sighed, then answered reluctantly, "I know you, Naruto. I understand how you feel, and I know that you don't really want Sasuke dead. You are as willing to kill him as I am to kill Orochimaru…"

A distant look came into her eyes and she unconsciously wrapped a hand below her collarbone- at about the spot where a certain necklace would lie…if the necklace were not currently around Naruto's neck. She smiled at the pendant showingabove his black t-shirt, and continued with renewed conviction,

"It's not easy to hurt those we love. As teammates, we can know one another better than anyone else. It is true that Sasuke may have to be killed in order to prevent Orochimaru's plot, but Naruto…if it is at all possible…I would ask you one more time to try and bring him back to us."

A/N: ok, if u guys like it, I have half of the next chapter written already! If not…then oh well, u may flame away. It started out a bit more light-hearted than planned, but I think it might get pretty serious in later chapters (those plot bunnies never tell me what they're thinking though!) Let me know what u think!


	2. Missions and Departures

Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own the characters…they belong to Masashi Kishimoto-sama.

A/N: thank u to all who reviewed! Thank u for the criticism and compliments…in response to some queries, I will try to continue this and not leave off, especially since I really have a lot of it planned and written but after school starts again I can't guarantee anything with updates…ok on with the story!

Ch.2- Missions and Departures

_ "It's not easy to hurt those we love. As teammates, we can know one another better than anyone else. It is true that Sasuke may have to be killed in order to prevent Orochimaru's plot, but Naruto…if it is at all possible…I would ask you one more time to try and bring him back to us."_

A tear shone in the corner of one of her eyes, and Naruto was suddenly reminded that Tsunade had fought Orochimaru without hesitation when the other Sannin threatened Naruto and Konoha. He had not even considered the stress she was under when fighting her old teammate, whose departure she had not been able to prevent.

Naruto looked awkwardly to his feet, unsure of what to say and unwilling to bring back old memories and feelings. He would deal with unwanted emotions later, he decided, that would be the only sensible course of action. In the meantime…

"Cheer up, obaasan! Of course I'll take the mission! A future Hokage cannot turn down any appointed task, no matter how difficult it is! I, the great Uzumaki Naruto, will bring Sasuke back to Konoha!"

From the corner, the silver haired shinobi sighed as he saw the cheerful mask slip back into place. The same old obnoxious Naruto emerged again, as if he hadn't been affected by the mention of his long-time rival and friend. Kakashi knew there had been a very complicated relationship between the two boys, and his thought was confirmed by the myriad of emotion that had flickered across the blonde shinobi's face: betrayal, hate, pain, sadness, and…something that looked like longing. Oh well, no time to discern the true feelings between the two, it was time for Kakashi to act like a sensei.

With that, he cleared his throat, bringing the two other gazes to his own. "Ano…Naruto…don't be hasty in accepting things before you know their consequences. This mission will take you far beyond the borders of Konohagakure, perhaps even farther than the Hidden Village of Sand. And as Hokage-sama said, you will have to be wary at all times; there will be no leisure, not even once you have found Sasuke." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively after that.

"Ahh! Hentai no sensei!"

Tsunade sweatdropped. So much for the serious responsibility talk from his sensei. She shook her head…why did she even bother?

"Fine then, Naruto. This is your mission now. Go home and pack, then report back here in two hours. You will be leaving at exactly noon."

"Hai, obaasan!"

"Oh, and Naruto…"

Said shinobi paused several steps from the door and looked back questioningly at his Hokage.

"You'd better find more suitable clothes for this mission, brat, before you step back inside my office!"

Naruto looked down at his ramen-stained, bright orange training clothes, and sniffed, highly offended that she did not like his fashion sense, before walking out.

_The Hidden Village of Sound:_

"Orochimaru-sama," the silver haired shinobi knelt before his master, his glasses glinting in the semi-darkness of the room, "We have word from Konohagakure. Tsunade-sama is dispatching Naruto-kun and an escort of five Anbu to find and terminate Sasuke-kun."

A pale, slim youth stepped out from behind Orochimaru's throne. He glanced scathingly at Kabuto then turned to the sinister man beside him. Orochimaru's eyes had widened at Kabuto's news, but now they returned to their former slits as he studied his useless arms lying on the stone throne.

"The plan continues as normal, although part of that was…unexpected. Sasuke-kun," the name slipped from his tongue like candy and Sasuke's features flickered in a momentary grimace.

Orochimaru continued, "Sasuke-kun can deal with the invaders. Continue your mission as planned, but take two other shinobi. Kabuto, follow them until they reach the border. Now go."

Sasuke bowed and spoke in a soft voice the expected reply, "Hai, _master_."

He then disappeared quickly from the room to prepare himself. Kabuto, however, remained kneeling in front of his master then rose as the raven-haired youth left.

"Orochimaru-sama, I am to stay with them only until they reach Sound's border?" Knowing full-well that he was one of the few people to question the Sannin's orders and survive, he continued, "Is it wise to trust Sasuke-kun outside the country yet? Are you sure that seeing his…ah…friend and former comrade…will not somehow convince him to leave you?"

Orochimaru laughed, the vibrations echoing along the slimy walls, and answered, "Yes, I know he harbors deep attachment to the kyuubi, but let Naruto-kun try to convince him to leave. It will never work…Sasuke craves the power too much, and with my seal on his neck, it will activate before letting him betray me. Sasuke-kun broke the bonds with his teammates when he left a year ago."

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama. I will watch him." And with that, the silver haired man bowed slightly and disappeared.

_Konoha:_

Forty-five minutes later after his departure, the door reopened and a blonde young man stepped in, looking sorry for the five Anbu guards who stood outside getting a lecture from Shizune. He looked toward the desk and rolled his eyes.

"Damn hag…sleeping on the job…some Hokage she is…"

Still muttering to himself, he jumped onto the desk beside Tsunade's head, leaned down beside her ear, and yelled in the voice of Konoha's number one noisy ninja,

"Wake up, you old hag!!!"

Tsunade jumped up, looking around wildly, then leapt backwards as she noticed an innocent looking blonde standing several feet away from the desk as if he had just entered.

She pointed accusingly and began shouting, "Learn to respect your elders! You little…damn…you actually look good."

She stepped back stunned as she surveyed the bored-looking young man before her. It looked like he had really taken her advice to heart. His hitai-ate was still tied around his forehead, but his long and tousled, golden locks fell over it and partially hid his face. A black, long-sleeved fishnet shirt hugged his lean but well-defined chest and arms, over which he wore his traditional black T-shirt with the red spiral. The short sleeved shirt now seemed tight on the shinobi's figure. Black pants hung low on Naruto's slim hips but fit slightly looser around his toned legs. His kunai pouch remained slung around his right thigh.

Tsunade gaped at him, realizing how much he had matured, mentally and physically, in the last year. But the hardened look in his cobalt blue eyes remained a grim reminder of his determination for this mission's success.

"Ok," she said, pulling herself out of her internal analysis, "time to brief you on the specifics."

An hour later, the Konoha gates opened and three Anbu members stationed at the door waved cheerfully to the golden haired shinobi. It wasn't until Naruto had vanished into the dark trees that he realized the reason the Anbu had looked so happy was probably because they knew it was doubtful he would return.

A/N: Ok, that's it for now…sorry it's kinda short…it was kind of a filler chapter as I had to get naruto out of konoha before real things can start. So it will get better! Reviews are appreciated…domo minna-san!


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